Home video game systems generally have a game console coupled to a television monitor and one or more game controllers connected to the console which permit user interaction with a game being played. Most video game systems are sold with game controllers that are connected to the console through a hard-wire link. More recently, wireless game controller accessories have been developed which provide players with more freedom of movement. Such wireless controller accessories replicate the basic control features found on conventional hard-wired controllers but use infrared or other electromagnetic radiation to send signals to the console.
To operate the video game system, a user (or player) inserts a game program which may be stored in a game cartridge or on a compact disc into the console and typically depresses a start switch to begin play of the particular game programmed into the cartridge or on the compact disc. As a game is played, a player or players control various visual aspects of the game using either the hard-wired or wireless controllers. For example, certain video games allow players to maneuver persons or aliens over various types of terrain, through tunnels, under water and over other various obstacles in order to score points. Some of these video games allow players to fly planes, helicopters, tanks and the like to attack various installations and score points. Other video games allow players to maneuver a person and to fire weapons at program generated images or at images of a person controlled by another player.
To allow players to continuously fire a weapon some conventional hard-wired video game systems include a auto fire function. In the hard-wired systems, the auto fire function can be activated by a single switch or the activation of a sequence of switches on the game controller. Activation of the auto fire function causes the game controller to continuously send to the game console a fire signal which results in the continuous firing of one or more game weapons.
Some current wireless game controllers include a power save (or sleep) function intended to conserve battery power when the controller is not in use for a predetermined period of time. The sleep function was mainly developed to conserve battery power when a controller's power switch is inadvertently left on after a player finishes playing a game. The sleep function automatically monitors the activity of the controller switches and turns off the power to the internal circuits of the controller after a predetermined period of time elapses without any switches on the controller being actuated.
However, since certain current wireless game controllers include the sleep function it is impractical to also include the auto fire function because if the auto fire function is activated and a user stops playing a game but fails to turn the controller power switch off, the auto fire function will continue to function so that the controller continues to generate and send the fire signal. The fire signal would then be detected by the sleep circuitry so that the sleep function does not activate and the controller would continue to draw battery power to generate and send the fire signals.